Evaluation of etiology, morbidity and mortality status of patients followed up with acute pancreatitis diagnosis

Introduction and Aim: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an acute inflammatory disease of the pancreas characterized by clinical, laboratory, inflammatory, and radiological findings. In this study, we aimed to retrospectively evaluate the clinical, laboratory, and radiological data of patients followed up with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis at the Adıyaman Training and Research Hospital Gastroenterology Department; to determine their sociodemographic characteristics and etiological distributions; to assess their clinical and laboratory findings at admission and during follow-up; and to investigate the impact of these parameters on the development of complications, length of hospital stay, mortality, and prognosis. Materials and Methods: A total of 242 patients over the age of 18, who were hospitalized with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis at Adıyaman University Training and Research Hospital Gastroenterology Department between 15.01.2020 and 30.08.2023, were included in the study. Demographic characteristics, etiological distributions, laboratory and imaging data, medical interventions, mortality, and complication status of the patients were retrospectively evaluated. Relationships between clinical and laboratory parameters and the development of complications were analyzed. Results: The study included 100 (41.3%) male and 142 (58.7%) female patients, with a mean age of 56.98 ± 17.99 years. In the etiological evaluation, biliary causes were identified in 81% of the patients, followed by idiopathic causes at 10.3%. Local complications were observed in 7.9% and systemic complications in 19% of the patients. Intensive care unit (ICU) admission was required in 5.4% of cases, and the mortality rate was determined as 0.8%.In the evaluation of laboratory findings, it was determined that systemic complication development was significantly associated with higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and creatinine levels at admission and at 48 hours, whereas albumin levels were significantly lower. For local complication development, a significant association was observed with an increase in 48-hour NLR and CRP levels and a decrease in albumin levels. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and red cell distribution width (RDW) values did not show a significant correlation with complication development at either admission or at 48 hours. Conclusion: The findings obtained in this study indicate that monitoring laboratory parameters is important for predicting the development of complications in patients with acute pancreatitis. In particular, 48-hour NLR, CRP, and albumin levels emerge as valuable biomarkers regarding the prognosis of the disease. Accordingly, the holistic evaluation of clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings can contribute to shortening the hospital stay and facilitating the early identification of poor prognosis in patients with AP. Keywords: Acute pancreatitis, etiology, complication, prognosis